Friday, September 30, 2011

I saw a few episodes of the Twilight Zone as a kid, but I didn't remember much about it until I started watching re-runs on cable with my husband. I love show and its bizarre flavor of sci-fi. I love the little twists and turns and trying to figure out just what is going on in a particular episode before the reveal.

The episodes that stick in my mind the most are the ones where things go badly for the main character. With that in mind, I created a poster for a certain zoo on a nearby red planet...

Poor Samuel Conrad found the Twilight Zone, and he'll be in that zoo on Mars for the rest of his life.

Monday, September 26, 2011

I love dragons. Dragons have been one of my favorite creatures for as long as I can remember. It's something I got from my mom, who introduced me to Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series when I was in middle school.

Her birthday was Sunday, and instead of buying her a generic card at the store, I made one just for her, featuring our favorite fantasy creature.

She loved it. :)

I used Illustrator to create the dragon and swoops and Photoshop to bring it all together.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

My goal with this blog is to try to do a fun, non-work related design project every week or two. This week, I merged two of my great loves, beer and Star Trek.

I love the look and feel of old Guinness ads. They have a really fun, playful style, and I wanted to combine that with my love of Star Trek by creating a retro-style ad for Quark's. Quark's, of course, is the bar at the heart of Deep Space Nine, a show I watched about 10,000 times as a teenager. Quark's was more than just a bar--it was a home away from home for a lot of the characters, and it was a place where they would gather to relax, celebrate, and mourn throughout the series. So I wanted my poster to have a warm, playful look, with just a touch of class.

I created the logo and glasses in Illustrator. I brought them into Photoshop, where I created the background and beverages. I added some age and weathering to give it a "lived in" look, and ta-da--an ode to the best bar, restaurant and gambling facility this side of the wormhole.

Monday, September 5, 2011

I've finally gotten up the motivation to start a blog. The catalyst for my sudden motivation? Losing my job of four and a half years.

It was a rude surprise to lose my job. I know the economy sucks right now, but I'd always seen my job as fairly reliable. It was at a small company, sure, but we were growing fast, and there was always work to be done. So, when I was called into the boss's office on a Friday afternoon and told I was being laid off, I was shocked.

I drowned my sorrows that night, then went out the next day with my husband to escape reality for a few hours by watching Planet of the Apes. I was feeling better, and hopeful, by Monday morning when I filed for unemployment and started sending out resumes.

Good news came on Thursday, when my former supervisor called me to tell me he knew someone who was looking to hire a graphic designer. I called the company and had an interview the next day. It went fabulously well, and that afternoon and over the weekend I worked on a test project. By Monday afternoon, I had more work. Hooray!

So now, I'm contracting with an awesome branding/design company based in Salt Lake City. My work has much more variety than it used to, and I feel like I'm challenging myself and learning new things every day. I'm excited for the future, and I'm looking for ways to expand my personal and professional boundaries.